We're excited to announce a whole new set of themes for next year! You can submit to any of these themes from this point onward - as usual, just take a quick look at our submissions guidelines first. We're already looking forward to reading your stories!

Plots & Schemes - deadline Monday, 7th January

Memories & Mementos - deadline Monday, 4th March

Freedom & Restraint - deadline Monday, 6th May

Short & Sweet Flash Fiction - deadline Monday, 1st July

Accident & Emergency - deadline Monday, 2nd September

Intimacy & Isolation - deadline Monday, 4th November

As usual, we're looking for short fiction between 800 and 3000 words (apart from our Short & Sweet Flash Fiction theme, which has a 1000 word limit), and all interpretations of the theme are welcome. Send your unpublished stories to us via email, but don't forget to take a look at our submission guidelines for some handy tips before you do. Mostly they exist to make our lives easier, but there's also some useful stuff in there for you, too. And naturally, thank you for trusting us with your work!

A few behind-the-scenes rehearsal shots with just a few of the people who make Liars' League NYC so frickin' awesome, because god knows it's not me. Join us on Wednesday, 13th September for our Brooklyn Book Festival Event, the Liars' League Songbook - a selection of short stories set to music!

You'll also get a chance to hear Caitlin Mahoney and Travis Tench performing some of their own music - and it's all completely free! We'll be at the bougie Red Room above KGB Bar - doors at 6.30pm, show starts at 7pm - so make sure you get there early if you want a seat!

We're excited to be back at this year's Brooklyn Book Festival as AN OFFICIAL 2017 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL EVENT - it's the second Liars' League Songbook!

On Wednesday, 13th September at 7pm, we're once again mashing up live music with story readings - featuring the musical stylings of artists Caitlin Mahoney and Travis Tench alongside stories from C.D. Rose, Rachel Karyo, Denis Woychuk, Erika D. Price, and Mary Crosbie, performed by actors Matt Alford, Kristen Calgaro, E. James Ford, Max Woertendyke, and Olivia Killingsworth. What's more, Caitlin and Travis will be playing a few tunes of their own as part of the program - so don't miss this special free night of fiction and music!

As befits such a fantastic lineup, we'll be in the classy-as-all-get-up Red Room - that's the cooool speakeasy one flight above our usual haunt at KGB. Entry is free, but as ever, we suggest you get there early as space will be limited for this very special Book Festival event - doors open at 6.30pm for a 7pm start - why not give yourself a reminder right now on our Facebook Event Page? Here's the lineup:

The Mall by Mary CrosbieRead by Olivia KillingsworthMusic by Travis Tench

The Rachels by Rachel KaryoRead by Kristen CalgaroMusic by Travis Tench

Don Delillo by C.D. RoseRead by Matt AlfordMusic by Caitlin Mahoney

The Mink by Denis WoychukRead by E. James FordMusic by Travis Tench

Refrigerator Children by Erika D. PriceRead by Max WoertendykeMusic by Caitlin Mahoney

Liars' League NYC is part of the annual Brooklyn Book Festival - for more information about the Brooklyn Book Festival, including the full festival program, visit the official website, check out theofficial Facebook page, follow the Festival on Instagram @bkbookfest and on Twitter @BKBF. And while you're at it, hashtag #BKBF for good measure. Look forward to seeing you there!

All the stories and recordings from our Borders & Boundaries night are now online! So if you missed hearing them live at KGB, all you have to do is pour yourself a drink, lower the lights, head over to our Borders & Boundaries page, and enjoy.

Once again, thanks to writers Erin Smith, Karen Levy, Maisy Card, and Joseph Salvatore; as well as performers Michaela Morton, Michael Petrocelli, Amber Bogdewiecz, and Frances Uku. And particular thanks to BOA Editions for kindly allowing us to feature Joseph’s story on the website – if you like his story (and we know you will) make sure you check out his collection, To Assume a Pleasing Shape – available now on Amazon!

We’ll be back at KGB on Wednesday, 3rd August with an evening of flash fiction – if you’d like to submit a story for that, we’re accepting entries until Thursday, 30th June – full details on the submissions page of our website!

Big news of the day - I’m absolutely delighted to welcome Nancy Hightowerto Liars’ League NYC as Co-Producer and Co-Host of the series!

Nancy is an incredibly talented writer and we’re lucky to have her – her writing has appeared in The New York Quarterly, storySouth, Gargoyle, Prick of the Spindle, Sundog Lit, Literary Orphans, and Word Riot; her novel, Elementarí Rising (Pink Narcissus Press, 2013) received a starred review in Library Journal and Kinds of Leaving; her short story collection was shortlisted for the Flann O’Brien Award for Innovative Fiction in 2014; her first collection of poetry, The Acolyte, was published by Port Yonder Press in 2015 and has been nominated for a 2016 Elgin Award by the Science Fiction Poetry Association; and she also holds a PhD in English/Creative Writing. Nancy currently reviews science fiction and fantasy for The Washington Post and teaches at Hunter College.

I'm fantastically excited to have her on board – if you haven’t had the pleasure of her acquaintance yet, make sure you come along to our next show to say hello and make her welcome!

We have a couple of announcements to make today - the first is that the stories from last week's Mistakes & Missteps edition are now online! Head on over via the link to enjoy stories by writers Jon Stubbington, A.C. DeLashmutt, James English, and Dani Rado. We'll have the recordings online soon, so watch this space for more details! And sit tight for our next big announcement...

We have four stories for you this month - featuring well-meaning matchmakers, disillusioned genies, questions about the afterlife, and advice as to what to do if you find yourself locked in the back of a U-Haul. All useful information to have! Here's what we have in store for you:

Things to Consider While Locked in the Back of a U-Haul by Dani Radoread by Roya Shanks

The Shoebox by John Stubbingtonread by Matthew Alford

Can Hermits Fall in Love? by James Englishread by Seth James

A Ghost Story by A.C. DeLashmuttread by Kristen Calgaro

So that's 7pm on Wednesday, 6th April at KGB Bar in the East Village - and you can reply to our Facebook Invite right here. Entry to the show is free, but make sure you get there early if you want a seat!

The Writers

Dani Rado received an MFA in fiction from Notre Dame and a PhD from University of Denver. She’s served on the editorial staff of the Notre Dame Review and Unstuck, and has been awarded artist’s residencies at the Prairie Center for the Arts and Sundress Academy for the Arts. Her fiction has been published in Harpur Palate, Mochila Review, Clackamas Review, 5thWednesday, and Unstuck, among others. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Jon Stubbington writes stories on the edge of a moor in Devon, in the United Kingdom. Sadly, this is not nearly as poetic as it sounds. After all, it rains a lot in England. His stories have been performed by the Liars' League London, published in Devolution Z magazine, and will be broadcast on radio in Ireland in 2016. You can find more of his writing at recycledwords.co.uk or find him on twitter @recycled_words.

James English has three children, lives in Rhode Island, and teaches at a community college. His recent fiction credits include: Magnolia Review, Hobart,Tishman Review, Riding Light, Liars’ League (London) and The Stockholm Review of Literature.

A.C. DeLashmutt is a New York-based writer and editor. Her fiction and non-fiction has appeared in McSweeney's, Trop Magazine, The Washington Post, Flash Magazine, and elsewhere. Her first play, The Policy, was produced in New York in the fall of 2013.

The Actors

Matthew Alford is a midwest transplant who has been acting professionally in New York for the better part of a decade. His resume includes work with Split Knuckle Theatre Co, The McCarter Theatre, The Actor’s Studio, Judith Shakespeare, and many more. Outside of acting, Matthew is the resident director for Equalogy Inc, a theatre-for-social-change company that uses theatrical techniques to combat sexual violence on college campuses. www.matt-alford.com

Roya Shanks is a classically trained actress whose most recent theater roles include a technically gifted but personally challenged gender affirmation surgeon, a naive pioneer woman “hunting down the elephant” in 1860’s Wyoming and a 1950’s Chicago housewife whose bright smile hardly dims as her family life shatters beyond all possible mending. While the exploration of human nobility, darkness and foible has always attracted her to the theater, she also finds unexpected creative pleasure in the world of commercial voiceover. Perhaps reading (dark) stories is the logical next step! http://www.royashanks.com/

Kristen Calgaro hails from Arlington, VA and grew up dancing. When she turned 18, she realized it was time to get off the pole and start acting. Since then she has appeared in plays and musicals across the country, and has received excellent reviews from critics like...her parents. She is especially proud of her work in Arizona, where she successfully formed a cult during the filming of Kumare: A True Story of a False Prophet (in theaters now). Kumare won the Audience Award at SxSW and Kristen received excellent reviews from critics like...The New York Times, and her parents.

Seth James is an actor living in Brooklyn. He has appeared in such classics as You Never Can Tell, Hamlet, Henry V and The Rover. This summer Seth will journey to Naples, NY to perform in Next Fall. Though acting remains Seth's lifelong passion, he is an avid rock climber and outdoor enthusiast. He was once stung by a large tree while living on a beach in Australia.